The Latest: Egypt churches reopen as new infections wane

The Latest: Egypt churches reopen as new infections wane

SeattlePI.com

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CAIRO — Egypt’s churches are reopening their doors to the faithful on Monday for the first time in more than four months due to a coronavirus lockdown.

The Coptic Orthodox Church said in a statement that it would receive the faithful in its churches with restrictions that include social distancing and wearing masks.

Other churches are also reopening across the Arab World’s most populous county, which has seen a steady decline in coronavirus infections in the past two weeks.

Christians constitute around 10% of Egypt’s predominantly Muslim 100 million people.

Egypt on Sunday reported its lowest daily confirmed cases of coronavirus in more than two months, with 167 infections and 31 deaths.

Overall, Egypt has reported around 94,450 confirmed cases including 4,865 fatalities.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Parents struggle as schools reopen amid coronavirus surge

— COVID relief bill remains up in air as negotiations resume

— Debate begins for who’s first in line for COVID-19 vaccine

— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says an advance team looking into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak has concluded its mission in China, and the U.N. health agency has agreed to details of the deployment of a larger team — notably to the suspected outbreak zone.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the “international team” will deploy to Wuhan, the city where the COVID-19 pandemic is believed to have erupted...

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